Albania: Festivali i Këngës to undergo changes

A few weeks back, Albania announced their national finalists for this year’s Festivali i Këngës and now more news has come from the nation regarding the show itself.

Albanian broadcaster RTSH is aiming to revamp the national selection process in order to increase public interest in the competition. The Artistic Director of this year’s Festivali i Këngës, Inva Mula is hoping to include the public more in this edition of the contest while also making the competition more relevant and youthful.

Inva Mula recognises that the public has become disconnected with the song festival and is hoping that cooperating with the Ministry of Education and students from Tirana, the engagement from a younger audience will increase.

Here is the key team for this year’s contest:

Director of the Festival – Martin Leka

Artistic Director – Inva Mula

Musical Producer – Sokol Marsi

Screenwriter – Pandi Laço

Director – Bledar Laço

There will be changes to the format of the competition as well. The first night of the competition will see all 22 songs presented alongside the RTSH Symphonic Orchestra. On night two, the songs will be performed with their backing track as they would be if they were to be performed at Eurovision. On night three, the professional jury will select the act that will represent Albania at Eurovision.

Snippets of the competing entries will be revealed in the lead up to the contest, but the complete songs will not be revealed until the first show. You can see the full list of participants here.